Cold To Create Heat
by Iceeh
Summary: A mainly OC fic set two generations into the future; some of the aged Gaang will pop up sooner or later. Title is from the La Roux song "In For the Kill". Go give it a listen, it's good.
1. The Missing Prince

A large crash sounded from the corner of the room, and Lyle jerked awake, sweating profusely. Her eyes darted towards the place where the noise had occurred, and saw an ashamed looking owl-kitten. Since she had just snapped out of a particularly violent nightmare, she was overjoyed to see that her pet had caused the disturbance. "I could kiss you right now," she smirked at the creature. His name was Yuki, and he was a lovely specimen, with snowy white fur, matching downy feathers, and soot-like black markings everywhere but his fluffy belly.

Lyle swung herself out of bed and drowsily stumbled over to Yuki. He cowered a bit in fear, expecting the worst. But instead of harsh words or a swat, she picked him up and nuzzled his fuzzy neck. He gave a surprised purr and nuzzled right back, sounding like a tiny motorboat as the girl carried him over to her bed. "I had the dream again, Ki-ki. You know the one." Yuki didn't understand a word she was saying, but he purred harder when he noticed the distressed look on his favorite human's face. Lyle sighed and fell back against her sweaty pillow.

"I don't get it. After nine years, you'd think I'd be over what happened." She closed her sharp grey eyes and rubbed her throbbing temples with the heels of her hands. "And, there was that dragon again; breathing skin-scorching flames, and snarling at me in lizard tongues. He wants something from me… I just don't know what." Yuki looked up at her, his icicle eyes shining with affection. He curled up happily on her belly. Lyle suddenly sat up. "Are you trying to tell me something? You know I can't use my firebending. Not since mother and father…" Truthfully, the owl-kitten had picked her tummy because it was the warmest part of her body. But Lyle didn't know that. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that before? The dragon… the burning… the houses… it all makes sense now. But my firebending- how is that supposed to help anything? I haven't even attempted a spark since I was four."

Yuki just blinked and let out another gentle purr. Lyle stroked his ears, deep in thought. Sitting up straight, she steeled her eyes and came to a conclusion. "Alright. I have to leave. I know this is quite sudden, but the pull is just too strong. Ki-ki, let's go." With that, Lyle slipped on her boots, pulled her cape over her shoulders, and slid out the window, Yuki clumsily fluttering after her.

* * *

That was how Lyle came to be sitting at a fancy desk mulling over some papers. It was five years ago that she had run away to find a firebending teacher. After her rapid success with the ways of the flame, she'd decided that she didn't want to use her firebending to harm others, much to the disappointment of her war loving master. Instead, she'd started up a sort of vigilante business. "Helping the helpless" was her unofficial motto, and her job was exactly what it said on the tin. Currently, she was scanning the reports of her last mission, a mission that had gone swimmingly, for once. A nobleman's raccoon-dog had been stuck up in a tree, with swarms of buzzard-wasps surrounding it. Lyle had done a bit of fancy bending to impress the man, and simultaneously rescued the pup. Of course, her showmanship and effectiveness had gotten her a lovely bag of gold pieces dripping with praise and thanks. Noblemen were her favorites when it came to payment.

But, as Lyle liked to say, every silver lining has a big grey cloud attached to it. To her dismay, the paperwork that came with this rescue was cumbersome and time consuming. Though nobles might be easy to impress, they liked to know exactly where their money went to. Even though the noble had seen it with his own eyes, Lyle practically had to write minutes on what occurred. She sighed, leafing through the sheets again and shaking her cramped hand. As she was about to start a new page, her double doors crashed wide open.

A frazzled looking girl rushed in through said doors, her amber eyes wide with panic. She spotted a surprised Lyle and ran towards her, bits of hair falling out of her once-perfect royal topknot. "Help!" The girl squeaked, clasping her hands together and looking at Lyle expectantly.

"If you want help," Lyle started, "you should probably tell me who you are first."

"Oh, yes. Of course," the girl crisply said, brushing her fallen hair out of her face. "My name is Izumi, crown princess of the Fire Nation, daughter of Fire Lord Hayazo and Fire Lady Yumi, granddaughter of the late Fire Lord Zuko, and Fire Lady Mai, great granddaughter of-" Lyle cut her off with a tired gesture. The princess gave a huff. "One does not interrupt royalty, peasant girl."

"Excuse me?" Lyle said, her normally subdued voice bubbling with anger. "I am far from a peasant. My parents were nobles, quite high ranking, until some of you bloody royal bastards took it upon yourselves to quietly exterminate them."

Izumi's eyes flashed. "'Bloody royal bastards', you say? I could easily have you join your parents with a flick of my wrist. Insulting members of Sozin's line is a crime punishable by things worse than death." A grin twitched on Lyle's mouth as she calmed the fire within her and leaned back in her chair.

"Spirits, you're just like your great-aunt. A spitting image of her, I might add."

"Lady Azula… how?" Izumi deflated a bit as Lyle silenced her again.

"We can save that for another time. Besides, you said you needed my help, and that's what I'm here for, no matter what hard feelings might be harbored between us. What seems to be the problem, princess?"

Smoothing the front of her robes, Izumi straightened and began to speak. "My younger brother, Prince Kazu, has gone missing. My parents have deployed the Fire Nation's best in a search for him, but I fear that won't be enough. Since I've heard plenty of good things about you, I thought I'd ask for your help in finding him."

"I see," Lyle murmured. "And how old is Prince Kazu, exactly?"

"Just shy of five."

Lyle coughed in disbelief. "A five year old? How on earth did you manage to lose a child so young?"

"Well, you see, he is next in line for the throne, so it's rumored that he's been kidnapped. I wouldn't put it past our enemies to try and take out the next Fire Lord before he's even learned to read."

Shaking her head, Lyle pulled out a piece of paper. "Fine," she grumbled, scribbling some characters on the sheet. "If this mission didn't have a child's life on the line, believe me, I wouldn't have anything to do with it. But even I can't let an innocent die." She finished writing and handed her quill to Izumi. "Sign."


	2. Obsidian and Tired Feet

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys! ** ** I'm not quite sure where this story is going as of yet, but we'll see. Hopefully it'll be interesting.**

"Yuki!" Lyle whistled for her now grown owl-cat, petting the happy critter as he perched on her shoulder. "We're going on an adventure," she murmured. "Since it's going to be more than a few days, you're coming with. I hope you like prince-searching." She turned to Izumi, who was impatiently tapping her foot.

"Are we leaving yet? This place is depressing me." she motioned at the room, which consisted of faded crimson tapestries hanging on bleak stone walls. In the corner was a pot of dying fire lilies. Lyle sauntered over to the flowers and plucked one out of the container, handing it to Izumi with a dramatic sweeping motion.

"For you, Princess Growly." Izumi grumbled and pushed the flower away, a faint flush covering her cheeks. It was either anger or embarrassment; Lyle couldn't tell with this short tempered princess. Slightly rolling her eyes, Lyle shrugged her cape on over her robes and grabbed her traveling pack. "Are you going to bring anything?" She asked Izumi. The princess gave her a haughty glare and tightened her jaw.

"I expect you to have enough for the both of us. I am royalty, after all, and I should think that a wannabe-hero will be honored to provide for me."

"The only thing that I'm 'honored' to do for you is to make sure _you're_ not the one kidnapped next. Although, now that I think about it, that might be a little too much for a poor 'wannabe-hero' to handle." Lyle locked eyes with Izumi, golden and grey blazing with a fire that could burn. "You know, if we keep up like this, Prince Kazu will be geriatric before we find him." Izumi huffed, crossing her arms.

"Fine. I have plenty of coins, so I can buy necessities for myself as we go along. Do you happen to own a spare traveling pack?" Lyle padded back over to her desk, rummaging around until she produced a medium sized bag. She tossed it over to Izumi, who fumbled a bit before catching it. With a dignified expression, the princess placed the pack on her shoulders.

"So, princess," Lyle said, walking over to Izumi. "Where to first?"

"First of all, my name is Princess _Izumi. _Not 'princess'. Second, how should I know? You're the investigator here."

"Well, _Princess, _he's your brother, so in theory, you'd be the leader." Izumi simply glared at Lyle, then spun around to face the door.

"If you tell me where to go," she said, turned away from Lyle, "I'll tell you how to get there. I have the placement of practically every stone on this planet memorized."

"Oh, really?" Lyle queried, her curiosity peaked. "And why, pray tell, is a princess a living map? I'd think that you would be spending your time practicing fight moves, or frying turtle-ducks with perfect firebending." Izumi cast her eyes downwards and took in a sharp breath.

"I was a sickly child, alright? Physical exercises were never my forte. As you can see, my firebending is certainly sub-par." She closed her eyes and concentrated, producing a tiny, flickering flame from her palm. It sputtered in vain for a few seconds, then fizzled out. Lyle stared with her mouth agape.

"The crown princess of the Fire Nation can barely even firebend? I'm sure that's illegal somewhere." Izumi didn't answer.

"Instead of devoting my time to things I was too weak to perform, I spent my days learning. Luckily, what I lacked in strength, I made up for in intelligence. In less than five years, I had already torn through all the books in the palace's vast library. "

"Huh- so that explains the human map deal!"

"Yes. Now, let's get on with this search, so I can get back home to my comfortable life." Izumi started to walk out of the door, but Lyle ran in front of her.

"Wait, where are we going?" She asked, puzzled by the princess' sudden decisiveness.

"I think it's time I pay a visit to a certain knowledgeable relative of mine. The formerly insane, currently content-"

"Sifu Azula."

"Wait, what?" Lyle grinned at Izumi's confused face and swished into the hallway.

* * *

"My feet hurt," the princess complained, trudging alongside a quickly angering Lyle.

"More of you is going to hurt if you don't stop whining," Lyle growled. "We're not even to the Ember Island ferry yet, and there's still a ways to go before we get there. So suck it up, and keep moving."

"What I'd give for a palanquin right now! My ankles aren't used to this kind of torture." Lyle gritted her teeth, trying to tune out Izumi. "If I'd known that this search would involve this monotonous walking, I would've never asked for your help."

"For the love of spirits, will you give it a rest?" Lyle said, her temper getting the best of her.

"Ah! A rest sounds brilliant!" With that, Izumi sat down on a nearby rock, looking expectantly up at a seething Lyle.

"Fine," she said, letting out an exasperated puff of air as she crouched down next to Izumi. Reaching into her robes, she pulled out her obsidian bladed knife and began turning it over in her hands.

"That's a nice knife you've got there," the princess remarked, blinking at the object. "Where's it from?"

"It's been in my family for centuries. I was told that it belonged to the Avatar long ago. Before my father died, he gave me it, making me promise that I'd keep it safe. Ever since then, I've treasured it with my life."

"Really?" Izumi said, wide-eyed.

"Nah, I got it at a bazaar a couple years back. Sure is pretty though, huh?"

"You're impossible."

"Just one of my many qualities, princess!" Lyle gave a mock bow and stood up again. "Let's get going. We'll be to the ferry in no time if we speed up a bit."

"Get going? But we've barely rested for two minutes!"

"Tsk, two minutes is far too much time. We're on a tight schedule here, you know." She started walking, leaving a muttering Izumi to scramble to her feet and follow.


	3. I Sea You Sew

They arrived at the ferry after a few more miles of bickering. Izumi bought tickets for both herself and Lyle, and they boarded the boat with little fanfare.

"You know, you really should invest in an ostrich-horse or something," Izumi said, breaking the silence that the two had been in since the ferry began moving. Yuki, who had been scouting for food during their walk, swooped down and landed on Izumi's shoulder. She jumped, a small yelp escaping her mouth. Awkwardly, the princess reached towards the owl-cat with her free arm, trying to shoo him away.

"Go on, pet him! He won't bite- actually, I shouldn't say that. As long as you're kind to him, he'll be kind back. And about the ostrich-horse, no thanks. I don't trust anything that can break my face with a kick."

"_I could probably break your face with a kick_," Izumi said under her breath. She smiled a bit, noticing Lyle's annoyed look. "Really, though, what do you spend your money on? Your… what shall I call it, house? Isn't exactly a palace."

"I'm not quite sure," Lyle said thoughtfully. "I suppose a better living space would be nice, but I'm content with what I have."

"Living in a two-room pile of stones doesn't sound like a very content-making thing to me."

"It's not a pile of stones! They're neatly arranged! In a neat way!" Lyle frowned, realizing that she was making the kind of sense that didn't.

"Right. It's okay, delusions aren't always a sign of mental illness!" Still frowning, Lyle snatched Yuki off of Izumi's shoulder. The owl-cat mewled with surprise, catching the princess' robe with his claw and tearing it. Izumi's eyes seemed larger than saucers as she inspected the ripped fabric. "I… you… he…" she tried to say, her words failing to form.

"Relax, princess. Lucky for you, I'm always prepared. I've got a sewing kit somewhere in my pack."

"But if you sew it up, there'll be unsightly stitches!"

"Would you rather have stitches or a slowly growing tear in your outfit?" Izumi grumbled something again, looking away. "I thought so. Now, hold still so I can fix it." Lyle pulled a rather pointy bone needle out of her bag, along with some black thread. She noticed the princess wincing, presumably at both the sharpness of the needle and the mismatched color.

"If you prick me with that, I'll get my revenge on you, ostrich-horse style."

"As long as you don't fidget, pricking will not happen." With that, Lyle threaded the string through the eye of the needle and got to work on the ripped robe. She felt Izumi tighten as she carefully lay her hand on the princess' shoulder, but the tension disappeared when Lyle softly murmured, "If you keep that up, a needle meeting your skin is in the near future."

For the first time in a while, Izumi didn't have much on her mind, besides the fear that the needle would eventually slip and mar more than her clothing. Strangely enough, though, the touch of Lyle's hand was reassuring, and she trusted that needle prickage would not happen- but she would never admit that to the other girl. With the usual sea of thoughts in her mind calmed by the steady motion of Lyle's sewing, she let her golden eyes sweep over the literal body of water surrounding the ferry. This was one of her first times seeing the ocean, and she was surprised at the beauty it held. Sunlight created starry sparkles on the surface when it hit just right. Her breath almost caught in her throat when she realized that there was so much more to the world than cold marble and man-made gardens. Due to her frailty when she was younger, Izumi had rarely left the palace grounds. It felt odd to be out of there, especially with her only companion being a young firebending vigilante. She'd never mixed with _that _type before, but it was refreshing compared to the perfect little playmates that were handpicked for her as a child.

Lyle's touch leaving her shoulder made her snap out of her thoughts, and she looked at the other girl with a mask of disgust. "Eugh! The black completely clashes with the rest of my-"

"Yeah, yeah. Save it. Your robe is fixed, so be happy." Izumi sneered at Lyle, hiding her secret wish to re-rip her garment so more sewing could occur.

* * *

The ferry was nearing Ember Island when Lyle spoke up again. "What's up, princess? I haven't heard a single complaint since the black thread." Izumi was still staring at the ocean, her eyes glazed over.

"Mm… I was just thinking about how nice it must be for waterbenders, to have the entire sea at their fingertips." Lyle shrugged, her face relatively blank.

"Waterbenders aren't the only ones with control of something powerful. Firebending is nothing to sniff at, y'know."

"No, I don't know. I should, but I don't."

"Oh, right. Well, it's never too late to learn! You have the ability, and it's probably pretty rusty by now- but a good teacher is the best rust remover."

"It's too late for me," Izumi said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "I'm nearly 19 now. Most of the greats start before they can even walk."

"Stuff and nonsense," Lyle said. "A lot of the masters that I know didn't start until much later in life, and even I didn't seek training until I was 13. You're definitely not too old. Maybe, when we reach Ember Island, we can see if Azula will be up for helping you with some moves."

"Really?" Izumi said, her eyes showing signs of hope.

"Really." Before Lyle even knew it, the princess had pulled her into a thankful hug. She stiffened in surprise, her eyes wide. Not quite knowing what to do, she awkwardly patted her hand on Izumi's back a few times.

"Not much of a hug person, are you?"

"Actually, I wouldn't know. Hugging has not been a big part of my life."

"Huh. We have something in common, then." Izumi turned back to the ocean, leaving Lyle to look at her quizzically for a moment. "But we're not making this a habit," she said, facing the firebender again. Before Lyle could get a word in edgewise, she noticed the ferry beginning to slow to a stop.

"We're here!" She exclaimed, whistling for Yuki and grabbing her pack that had been resting on the ground. Izumi picked up her own mostly empty bag, and disembarked the ferry with Lyle.


End file.
